Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Room C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Antonella Burgio, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4881 E-mail: antonella.burgio@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of:
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DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTEREST PDF 56 KB To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring Officer.
Minutes: There were no declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest.
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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To consider the revised proposals for General Fund, Capital and Revenue Budgets and Medium Term Financial Plan 2013/14 - 2015/16 (CAB 075/123) in accordance with the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework.
Members are advised that the initial report and appendices concerning this item have been previously circulated to all Members as Cabinet Agenda 13 February 2013 “Item 10.2”.
Papers included in this agenda are:
· The tabled Cabinet amendments concerning General Fund, Capital and Revenue Budgets and Medium Term Financial Plan 2013/14 - 2015/16.
· The decision of the Mayor in Cabinet at the meeting held on 13 February 2013 concerning General Fund, Capital and Revenue Budgets and Medium Term Financial Plan 2013/14 - 2015/16 Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee considered the revised proposals for General Fund, Capital and Revenue Budgets and Medium Term Financial Plan 2013/14 – 2015/15 in accordance with the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework. In this connection, the Committee received papers comprising:
Financial implications
At the request of the Chair, Councillor Alibor Choudhury (Cabinet Member for Resources) introduced a summary of the revised proposals in the Mayor’s amended recommendations as indicated in the table shown below.
In response to concerns expressed by the Chair, Councillor Choudhury indicated that reserves had been allocated to future years to reduce budget gaps and ensure that deficits were not a large as those incurred by other local authorities. Financial planning was ongoing for future years and a team of Officers was engaged in identifying further areas to reduce the budget gap.
The Chair expressed concerns relating to management of the vacancies policy, particularly regarding possible effects on the social care services. Councillor Choudhury stated that care would be taken to ensure that front line services were not affected.
The Committee raised queries with regard to the proposed spending allocations as follows:
Boroughwide Deep Clean
Members made the point that funding had been taken from this service in previous years and there was some surprise that the proposed allocation was considered necessary, in view of claims that Tower Hamlets was a clean Borough. Councillor Choudhury undertook to provide further written comments to the Committee.
Bursary
Very strong concerns were expressed regarding:
· the need for fairness in carrying out assessments for and allocations of bursary payments; · the criteria for any means test that would be used; the need to ensure that students whose parents were just above the benefits range would not be excluded and; · how many Tower Hamlets students gained university places each year and whether the proposal was aimed at encouraging more students to secure places at university or reducing drop-out rates of existing university students.
Councillor Choudhury undertook to provide further written comments to the Committee.
THEOs
Members asked whether funding might best be allocated to securing more Police Officers and whether the Metropolitan Police had been approached with this in mind under the existing arrangements. Councillor Choudhury undertook to provide written comments to the Committee.
The Chair raised concerns that the SNT was hugely vulnerable in the face of cuts being made by the Metropolitan Police to service hours and counter facilities. She also queried whether it was appropriate to consider directing funding towards an organisation that appeared to be in a period of instability and flawed working.
Burial Grounds
Members expressed concerns relating to:
· the locations of the two sites under consideration; · whether they would be for the use of all Tower Hamlets residents; · how many ... view the full minutes text for item 3.1 |